QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

76 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 76 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 1:57 pm AST on 1 January 2020 (17:57 UTC), 30 km deep.

· 30 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 82 kmRincón Municipio 85 kmAguada Municipio 87 kmIsabela Municipio 94 kmMayagüez Municipio 94 kmMoca Municipio 95 kmAñasco Municipio 98 kmQuebradillas Municipio 102 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 107 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
30 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 82 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2502 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.6 on 2018-12-25 — about 2,800 times the energy of this one.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 18.9200, -67.7741. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 82 km (51 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 87 km (54 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 94 km (58 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 94 km (58 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 95 km (59 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 3.2 69 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.3 83 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.9 77 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.2 83 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 101 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 104 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 75 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.8 94 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 99 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 76 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 89 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 2.4 78 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 2.7 67 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.0 81 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.0 87 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.